Louvre Cats
1.
When I lived among
The sand and gods,
I was stroked like my fur
Would comb through
Tangled minds
And leave them shining.
I like it here, wrapped
Blanket-tight
Behind glass. Here
Thousands worship.
They pet me
With their eyes.
2.
My mother was the queen
Of a desert long moved by
Breezes, covering the world
With its sands.
My father, the bastard son of
Anubis. A mistake of species
With the power of gods.
I was a kitten, a first and last
Breath and a thousand sad sighs.
Born exhausted, they named
Me “disappointment” and bandaged
Their wounds.
I am the smallest of the cats
In this twinkling case
Of melted sand. Do I
Disappoint you, too?
3.
“Cat,” they write
On machine built papyrus.
Not a single dust flake
Touches my bones
That isn’t centuries
Older than their known
Ancestors and yet
They name me, “Cat.”
Yes, I know of radioglyphs
And the way men
Find year in the blackness
Of burnt sugars, yet
In my well-scrubbed
Brain pan, my eye turns
Inward. In your passing,
Staring jewels, agate, garnet,
Jade and amber (a flea trapped
Within the core), bare or
Magnified through double
Glass coins, I see a prince,
A King, trapped in threads.
4.
I end on a note sung too sharp.
Bast, my sister, it can’t be so.
My brain, yolk of my whitegrey
Omelette, seeps from an accidental
Hit, or so I still believe. Not now,
Not ever will my an betray me
With a leather coated weight, a
Snap of my temple and holy blood
That fills my ear and showers
Like a fresh underground spring
When I shake my head, no
No, a mistake has been made.
There will be apologies and
Warm wine in a saucer and a
Crisp dry leaf to chase. Toss
In the air like a kitten. He will
Be back for me. He will
Cut these bandages, once
I have healed. Kiss the scar
And cry. Oh cat, oh cat. I
Am so very sorry. In a blur I
See his sacrifice. He cries to
Sister Bast, even as he holds me.
Even as he wraps my wounds
In medicinal herbs, fresh torn
Cloth. I am propped, balance
On my hind toes, and though
I keep company with the dead
He watches my wounds for closure,
Prays, day and night, at my feet.